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His statue plaque mentions that Orville Hubbard made the garbage trucks run on time, and that he kept being reelected as mayor for 36 years. But he also deliberately kept the city lily-white for all that time.

I work in Dearborn and see this statue almost every day -- he looks so friendly waving, I would have never guessed about his 'jaunty' attitude. I took some pics showing his views did not carry over into this era (notice the people waiting for the bus across the street).

[Katie Merritt, 03/08/2006]

Statue of Dearborn's Jaunty Racist Mayor

A plaque on the base of this statue notes that mayor Orville Hubbard -- captured in a life-size bronze waving to an imagined cheering crowd -- was "an effective administrator" who "made Dearborn known for punctual trash collection." But he was much better known for his campaign slogan: "Keep The Negroes Out Of Dearborn." During his 36 years as mayor he did just that. This was no small "accomplishment," as downtown Detroit -- whose population is over 80 percent black -- is only five miles away. Only 20 blacks lived in Dearborn (pop. 90,000) when Orville Hubbard left office in 1978.